


You shall never walk alone

by laurynmakay



Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), But happy tears mostly, F/M, Gilbert loves his crazy fiancee, Matthew is dead, Post-QUEENS, Sorry About It, There's a lot of crying, Wedding Planning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2021-02-13 03:22:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21487525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurynmakay/pseuds/laurynmakay
Summary: Two years after they lost Matthew, Anne Shirley-Cuthbert has a very important question for Marilla in regards to the final stages of her wedding preparations.[there should be no season three spoilers]
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Comments: 3
Kudos: 176





	You shall never walk alone

It was a Sunday afternoon and Anne Shirley-Cuthbert was nervously puttering around the kitchen, sort of helping with whatever Marilla requested, but mostly just ending up in the way. It was the two year anniversary of the day they lost Matthew and she could tell Marilla was trying to distract herself by cooking incessantly. Anne had no trouble being distracted from whatever Marilla had her stirring at the moment. 

What was really weighing on the two of them was the fact that Anne was getting married in just under a month. The women, including Diana and Rachel Lynde, had taken advantage of the available time over the weekend to get ahead on planning for the approaching nuptials. The four of them had spent the entirety of the Saturday seated at the dining table of Green Gables discussing everything from the flowers to the music to the dress. Diana and the girls would go out the morning of and gather wildflowers. Moody had offered to play for the ceremony. The ladies would be traveling to Charlottesville to sit down with a seamstress about reusing and altering an old dress of Marilla's into a suitable wedding gown to save money. The day ended with Gilbert joining them for supper to give his final blessing to their plans before taking Anne for a walk through her beloved woods to destress in the fading golden light of the evening. He was much more involved in planning than most twenty-one-year-old men would be for their wedding, but he was also aware that this was one of Anne's ultimate fantasies and he wanted her to have the ceremony of her dreams, so he rarely went against her wishes in all the wedding plans. After yesterday’s work, all that was needed to be accomplished today was finalizing the menu. 

This was how Anne found herself surrounded by three small, unfinished cakes, two types of bread, two stews, and every pastry you could possibly make from an apple. Gilbert had dropped off a large bag of them from his orchard that morning, before kissing Anne when Marilla turned her back and heading out. The wink he gave her just before he turned his back, brought on even more of her nervous energy. She and Gil had discussed what she was going to ask Marilla the night before, but if she was thoroughly honest Anne had been thinking of it for a year, before the twosome were even officially engaged. She was worried that he would think it ridiculous and dissuade her, but she should have known better. Gilbert Blythe would always the first person to back Anne up on even her most nonsensical schemes. Even with her fiance's blessing, the thought of it had kept her up all night. 

”Anne dear, you're being uncharacteristically quiet over there, it's worrying me.” Marilla stopped rolling out the pie crust she had been working on and looked up. She could read Anne well enough by now to recognize that even though she no longer had the end of a braid to tug at, Anne’s mind was racing and something was eating her up. 

”When I was little, I often imagined my wedding. With an elegant gown and a long, white veil and crimson roses and a handsome prince and a father to walk me down the aisle. When I got older, I imagined wildflowers and all of my friends and a man that I loved and Matthew giving me away.” Anne tried to swallow the tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She just wanted to get through this without falling apart. ”Now the only thing that I need to have the perfect wedding is my Gilbert and you. I have lost two fathers now, one I never knew, and one who chose me and loved me and always did everything he ever could to make me happy. To be given away is to relinquish one place you truly belong to join another and the first place ever belonged is here with you and I know it's not traditional, and Ms. Lynde just might have a heart attack—“

“Anne Shirley-Cuthbert, what in heavens name are you on about?” Marilla beat her flour-covered hands on her apron and took a step back from the table. 

“Will you walk me down the aisle?” Marilla stood there blinking, unable to process Anne’s words before she upped and started talking again. 

“Oh Marilla, I'm really begging you to. There’s just no way I could ever walk down that aisle alone.”

“Anne—“

“And now with Matthew gone, I’ve lost the closest thing to a father I’ve ever had and—“ Anne was unable to hold back the tears and they streamed down her freckled cheeks. Marilla also found her eyes welling up. 

“Anne—“

“I would never want you to think that you’re replacing Matthew, it’s really more that you’re—“ 

“ANNE! Darling, hush! Of course I will. Of course I will give you away. Just because Matthew is... doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have your family able to pass you off to start your new life.” Marilla had more to say but a knot in her throat prevented the words from escaping. She ran over to Anne and held her girl in her arms while they both cried. 

This was how Gilbert found them when he walked into the kitchen, sobbing in each other’s arms. 

“I’m going assume you’ve asked her, now are we crying because she said no or because she said yes?”

“Yes,” one of the women yelled. 

Gilbert Blythe was then struck my the image of a weepy-eyed Marilla walking his bride down the aisle to him, flashes of red peeking out from under her veil. If anyone were to ask later, he absolutely did not have tears in his own eyes when he went to join in their embrace.


End file.
